Garment protector



Feb. 23, 1937. LE ROY ND 2,071,569

GARMENT PROTECTOR Filed Aug. 9, 1935 INVENTOR.

LE/QW H FHA/0 ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application August 9,

6 Claims.

My invention relates more particularly to garment protectors of the moisture-proof type which are adapted to be Worn by infants as a protective covering for the customary absorbent diaper,

these protectors being made in a side-seamed form of baby-pants having waist and leg open ings inherently capable of expanding and then closing or contracting about the infants body to afford an effective closure and protection, and furthermore to prevent an egress of moisture as well as to be comfortable to the wearer.

The objects of my invention are, among other things, to provide a garment of this type in which there is embodied means for preventing the waist and leg openings from being stretched abnormally so as to break the stitching which binds the elastic binding strips around the usual shirred margins of such openings. Heretofore baby pants have been made with expansible openings with continuous elastic binding strips which enclose the shirred margins surrounding these waist and leg openings, which strips expand and contract with the shirred margins. Such strips have usually been stitched to the shirred margins, and frequently the stitching becomes broken when the openings are stretched further than they should be in putting on or taking off the garment.

My present improvement remedies such faults by embodying in the loops of the stitching, pref- 3O erably cross-stitching, that fastens the binding strips to the shirred margins of the garment, an endless non-elastic reinforcing cord or ribbon of predetermined length within the stitching, which cord or ribbon will not only keep the threads of the stitching from tearing the sheet-rubber material of the garment, but also will regulate the extent of the stretch when the opening is expanded. Such cord or ribbon is preferably arranged within the loops of the cross-stitching, on the exterior marginal surface of the opening, and when the latter is contracted, the cord or ribbon is puckered in a scalloped form that gives the opening an ornamental and attractive appearance.

4 Such improved construction for the waist and leg openings allows for the usual expansion and contraction for the garment as a whole when fitted and adjusted about the waist and legs of the child to cover the ordinary absorbent diaper, yet this non-elastic fabric reinforcement enclosed within the stitching of the binding strips prevents the openings from abnormal stretching that would either break the thread of the stitching or tear the body of the garment, when the 1935, Serial No. 35,432

garment is being fitted to, or removed from, the child.

These and other objects of my improvement will be hereinafter fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 5

A preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in Which- Fig. l is a front elevation of a pair of baby pants embodying my improvements;

Fig.2 is a perspective view showing the form 10 of reinforced waist or leg opening when in contracted form; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but shown with the opening expanded to the limit of its stretch.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts through- 15 out the figures.

Referring to the drawing, the body 4 of the garment is preferably made of sheet rubber material or any water-proof fabric cut from a single sheet, and is preferably united by side-seams go (not shown) between the waist opening 5 and the two leg openings 6. These openings 5 and 6 are each provided with means for contracting same to hold the garment about the body and legs of the child comprising reinforcing elastic binding 25 strips 1 that may be expanded when the garment is in use.

To permit of expansion of the garment body 4, the upper margins 8 are shirred whereby the openings 5 and 6 may be readily distended when the garment is put on or taken off.

The binding strips 1 are preferably made of rubber or other elastic materials, and when secured in position, such strips cover or enclose the shirred margins 8 to provide a pocket therefor. Such strips 1 are preferably secured over the shirred margins 8 by zig-zag cross-stitching 9 that passes through the garment body 4 and strips 7 and shows on the inner and outer surfaces of the binding strips 7. I preferably lay the cord or ribbon fabric ID of non-elastic material of predetermined length around the exterior surface of the binding strips 1 before the zig-zag crossstitching 9 is sewed, so that such cord or ribbon I0 is enclosed Within the loops of the cross-stitching 9 as shown more particularly in Figs. 2 and 3.

When the openings 5 and 6 are normally contracted, the cord or ribbon I0 is puckered in scalloped form which ornaments the exterior of the binding strips 1; when these openings are expanded with the stretching of the binding strips 1 under tension, the cord or ribbon l0 gradually assumes a less scalloped form until it has straightened to the limit of its length, thereby preventing the threads of the cross-stitching 9 from either breaking or tearing the garment body 4 and strips 1, and also regulating the length of the stretch in expanding the openings 5 and 6. The non-elastic cord or ribbon may also be arranged within the loops of the cross-stitching 9 in the inner surface of the binding strips 'l', but in such case the ornamental effect of the puckered cord on the exterior of the garment would be lost.

My improvement, while allowing for the required expansion and contraction of the waist and leg openings in placing the pants on the child, automatically provides a desired reinforcement for the binding strips 7 and also afiords a definite limit to the required stretching of the openings so as to preclude the possibility of tearing the sheet rubber material or of breaking the threads of the stitching when the openings are stretched too far.

My invention is not to be limited to the particular construction shown, nor to any particular details whereby this desired ornamental and reinforcing efiect is automatically produced around the waist and leg openings of the garmerit.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a garment having expandible waist and leg openings formed in the body of the garment provided with shirred margins around said openings, of continuous elastic binding strips enclosing said shirred margins and secured thereto by stitches arranged transversely to the length of said strips, and non-elastic means loosely and slidingly held between said binding strips and said stitches to limit the expansion of said openings.

2. In a garment having expandible waist and leg openings formed in the body of the garment provided with shirred margins around said openings, of continuous elastic binding strips enclosing said shirred margins and secured thereto by stitches arranged transversely to the length of said strips, and non-elastic means of predetermined length loosely and slidingly held between said binding strips and said stitches to limit the expansion of said openings.

3. In a garment having expandible and contractible waist and leg openings formed in the body of the garment provided with shirred margins around said openings, of continuous elastic binding strips enclosing said shirred margins and secured to the garment body by zig-zag crossstitching, and non-elastic means loosely held within the loops of said stitching to limit the expansion of said openings.

4. In a garment having expandible and contractible waist and leg openings formed in the body of the garment provided with shirred margins around said openings, of continuous elastic binding strips enclosing said shirred margins and secured to the garment body by zig-zag crossstitching, and non-elastic means of predetermined length loosely held within the loops of said stitching on the exterior surface of said binding strips to limit the expansion of said openings.

5. In a garment formed of elastic material having an expandible opening therein, of a continuous elastic binding surrounding said opening and secured thereto by stitches arranged transversely to the length of said binding, and nonelastic means loosely and slidingly held between said binding and stitches to limit the expansion of said opening.

6. A garment having a body portion made of waterproof fabric material, and having an opening which is provided with a continuous wall, an elastic member applied to said wall at said opening, the material of said wall being located within said elastic member, the outer surface of the outer elastic member having a second member applied thereto, said second member being substantially non-extensible, said second member being connected to said elastic member by means of zig-zag stitches which skip said second member and which pass through both the elastic member and the intermediate material of the body poition, said second member having a zig-zag shape when the elastic member is in the untensed condition, the material of the garment being gathered at said elastic member.

LEROY H. RAND. 

